Though I Sleep
by Galaxina-the-Seedrian
Summary: Phineas has been dreaming about Isabella a lot, and just about none of them end well as one would hope. (Phinabella)


**Thought about this one for a while after trying to come up with some Phinabella fics to write and junk while trying to get my shipping mojo on. I've been working on some comics and pictures on my deviantart page, but I still wanna do more writing and stuff, you know?**

**Phineas and Ferb belongs to Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh**

**P/F/P/F**

**Though I Sleep**

**(~)**

From within the Beak suit, Phineas' mind immediately jumped. One moment he and Ferb had focused their efforts on trying to apprehend Kha Kha Peu Peu, the next the scream of a familiar friend he had been consistently letting down that day rang through the air. Time itself felt like it had frozen over for a few brief moments before it registered to the youngest Flynn-Fletcher the situation before him – Isabella was desperately grasping at the edge of Town Hall's roof, begging for The Beak to save her.

"Oh no! Isabella!"

The heinous villain cackled at The Beak's panic; though really the majority of the dread had come from Phineas himself. "And that's not all, do-gooder," Kha Kha Peu Peu grinned, "Watch as I destroy the very symbol of good days everywhere!"

A single laser propelled from the evil man's machine, directly impacting the beams of the Bangaroos on Ice billboard. The whole thing was sent careening towards a group of fear-stricken citizens, all either too shocked or too ignorant to move. Even as the crowd screamed in horror, one terrified shriek overpowered them, even for a brief moment.

"Beak, save me!"

Phineas forced the head of the Beak to turn to Isabella, her grip slipping every second he (and by an extension Ferb) wasted trying to figure out what to do. "Uh-oh," Kha Kha Peu Peu mocked, Phineas desperately trying to block out his disturbingly jovial tone, "Two problems," the villain nodded his head victoriously, "**one Beak!**"

Five words.

Those five little words sparked an adrenaline rush of determination and inspiration that Phineas hadn't felt in a while. Perhaps it was the desperation within the situation – perhaps it was the fact that lives were in danger and he and Ferb simply had to act.

Perhaps it was because **Isabella **needed him.

"Ferb!" Phineas shouted to his brother, his hand covering the speaker of the suit, "EJECT ME!"

Without a single bit of hesitation, Ferb slammed his fist onto a large, glowing red button before him; a spray of gas ejected from the Beak's mouth as Phineas himself had been launched onto the roof of the City Hall building. The gas cloud briefly blinded Kha Kha Peu Peu enough for Ferb to make his own move, single-handedly manning The Beak suit to rush over to the endangered citizens and rescue them, all in the span of a mere ten seconds.

Phineas, meanwhile, somehow miraculously landed on the roof of the building Isabella desperately held onto for dear life. The trajectory was shotty, at best, the boy landing hard against some metal ventilation shaft sticking out, creating a loud dent. Phineas ignored the pinching pain and started rushing over to Isabella with a speed he didn't even know he was capable of.

_And yet the path he rushed onto extended longer and longer, like a treadmill pulling him backwards as he ran ever so gradually. The laughter Kha Kha Peu Peu belted out echoed in his head, as well as all the screams of terror. All was a mere void before him except for Isabella – only Isabella. His best friend, the girl from across the street, the one who had never once backed out of an adventure, who never once left him to the wayside, whom he himself had let down over and over again the entire day._

_He prayed in his head, eyes burning, asking why his legs were suddenly freezing up just as he was about to reach the edge._

_"I can't hold on-!"_

_Isabella's caterwaul was enough for Phineas' heart to completely tear down, reaching out his hand right over the edge, their eyes locking just for a moment before their pleading grasps missed each other. Phineas read Isabella's fearful expressions clearly as she descended to the ground below, the sounds of the world becoming numb in comparison. The only thing that was louder than Isabella's shriek, or Phineas' cry as he called out her name in a way none thought was possible for him, was the gruesome crack that followed upon the impact._

Phineas' head shot up from the comfort of his pillow, clutching the chest of his pajama shirt tightly. He made sure to examine the room thoroughly, though his body refused to move beyond his upper torso and neck turning from one way to another to see where he was. In a darkened room, with his brother, in their beds, in the middle of the night…he was at home.

The floor creaked ever so slightly as Phineas leaped out of bed, rushing to his window that looking over towards the Garcia-Sharpiro's household. From a draw his pulled out a long telescope of a rusty silver cover, and peered through it, adjusting it to see through the window that belonged to a certain pink-adorned room of the house. It wasn't an easy feat, even with the telescope being modified to see further than regular ones – he still had to angle it a certain way in order to see the bed, and even the one who was occupying it.

He had to make sure – make ABSOLUTELY sure.

"Phineas…?"

The boy stopped. His eyes darted towards to bed to the other side of him, a groggy, tired, and miffed green-haired Brit staring directly at him with a fierce blue glower. "What are you doing?" Ferb grumbled, smacking his lips together, "It's four in the morning…"

A strange gurgle snored, the two brothers suddenly noticing Perry sleeping at the foot of Ferb's bed, kicking his right leg several times, completely undisturbed by the sudden commotion. Phineas mentally rolled his eyes – Ferb was a much lighter sleeper than he was after all. "…I'm checking," he mumbled before adjusting the telescope again and peering through it, a sigh failing to escape his throat; he saw her.

Isabella, lying in her bed, hair strung across her face and her pillows, blissfully adrift in the Land of Nod; Phineas could only imagine how her steady breaths sounded like in her slumber at this time. He remembered only briefly the few times she had slept over, how he'd never really gotten the chance to ever hear those sounds from her before – he'd always fall asleep before her, and she'd always wake up before him. Sometimes he'd joke to her how it was like she never actually slept during those backyard campouts as if she'd just stay up all night for whatever reason.

He'd never understand why Isabella became very quiet after he said that. Perhaps the joke simply wasn't all that funny in the first place.

"You had another nightmare again, haven't you?"

Phineas flinched, clutching the telescope close to his chest before he could really imprint the image in his mind. Isabella was safe…yet all the pent up anxiety screamed to him to look again. What he saw through the telescope might've been just as much a dream as the nightmare he'd just experienced. The boy swallowed as he twisted the lens slightly, preparing to look just one more time.

"Phineas."

The telescope was gently peeled out of Phineas' hands, cold and trembling. Phineas looked over to his brother again, Ferb smiling softly at him. "She's okay," he reassured him once more, "Isabella's okay."

Phineas swallowed hard, his throat pinching in pain, as he quickly nodded his head, his gaze drifting back to the window with uncertainty. It were strange moments like this, Ferb realized, that often times the roles were switched. Ferb had become a lot chattier in comparison to his silent-stricken younger brother, who was normally known for his conversationalist view in vast comparison. But only in moments where Phineas' optimism had shifted towards a darker path – where something sinister gripped at his heart. Isabella was often the topic of these moments, for reasons Phineas still couldn't quite comprehend. Or perhaps he could now, at their older years, but he simply couldn't admit it to himself.

"You should probably tell Isabella about this," Ferb softly insisted, "It might help if-."

"No," Phineas said a bit too loud; a brief silence fell before the two as they waited for their older sister to burst in and tell them to be quiet, "…no…I…I couldn't…she doesn't need to know."

"Why not?" Ferb prodded, "Phineas, you've been having this problem for two years straight now. It's only gotten worse, you have to admit that to yourself."

Phineas turned away, preparing to walk back to his bed to shut out his brother's voice. An uncomfortable grip squeezed his chest like a balloon, one similar to Ferb's own grip pulling at Phineas' shoulder. "What was it this time, eh," Ferb asked, a tone that indicated a point to be made, "The incident with virtual Buford? The Pharmazombie fiasco? Bloody hell, even when she was almost killed by that robot spider thing?"

"The Beak…" Phineas mumbled, keeping down a lump from entering his throat as his voice cracked, "It was…that fall…"

Ferb's voice remained silent, Phineas refusing to continue. But the eldest brother was patient, far more stubborn than many gave him credit for, and Phineas found himself almost automatically giving into the hushed demands. "I…I didn't reach her in time," he explained, his voice starting to break, "She was so scared, I…I…" he covered his mouth, the image…that horrible image…that loud crack…

Phineas gagged, lurching forward a bit before Ferb inched closer to pull the younger into a tight embrace. Phineas' heart rate slowly went back to it's normal rate as he felt his brother's own. "Relax," Ferb insisted, "Breath…"

Phineas obeyed, though one could say he had very little choice in the matter. Of all the fears that had plagued Phineas before, this one had been the most frustratingly obstinate. Isabella was such a strong, fearless girl – it was only natural to find her in more than a few scrapes.

Scrapes, he chose to describe life or death situations as scrapes, bloody, frigging, **scrapes…**all those haunting experiences that seemed to get worse and worse somehow.

"She wouldn't think less of you if you told her she worried you a lot of the time," Ferb sighed, rubbing his brother's back, "If anything, I think she would greatly appreciate that."

"I don't want her worrying," Phineas found himself leaning against his older brother with a grumble, "She doesn't need that."

"Anxiety isn't really becoming of you either," Ferb stated, rather nonchalantly given the situation.

Phineas stuck his tongue out, fully intent on giving his brother a raspberry but finding no energy to do so. The panic slowly folded back into calm, fully embraced tiredness. Ferb almost gave a smirk of some kind that only he could convey with his usually stoic demeanor. The Brit stood to his feet.

"Well, I can't force you to do anything you don't want to," Ferb admitted with a shrug from his shoulders, "But you're not doing yourself any favors by bottling this all up."

"I have you to talk to about this," Phineas sighed in deep stubbornness, leaning back onto his bed, back lying against the covers.

Phineas didn't see Ferb shake his head, rather he could almost sense it while he stared up at the ceiling once more. "And what good has that done you?" Ferb inquired with a huff, "What'll happen when something else happens that almost has her…you know?"

"She…she'll be fine, right?" Phineas struggled not to quiver at the thought, "She's always fine. So I'll be fine, too. Eventually."

It was an insane line of logic – insanely stupid, that is. Ferb knew that all too well, and he could tell in Phineas' eyes that he himself couldn't entirely believe that. No one in their right mind would buy that load of crap in a million years.

"If you say so," Phineas heard Ferb shuffling back under his covers and turning away from the side of the room that belonged to the younger of the two step-brothers, "Rest assured, though, I know for absolute certain," Ferb cracked his knuckles before yawning, "That Isabella would be more than happy to talk to you about this. Goodnight, brother."

Phineas opened his mouth to speak more but decided against it. He thought more about what he could tell Ferb, or what question to ask if he were to go through with such a thing, but by the time he had mustered the courage to do so, he could hear his brother's pig-like snores ringing through the room. Phineas sighed deeply, grabbing his pillow and using it to shield his ears while he turned his back towards the slipping elder sibling. His mind drifted back to the dream, and even to Isabella herself, as the world fell silent in his wandering.

Maybe, perhaps someday, he will talk to Isabella about those dreams. Maybe…

**(~)**

_"Phineas! NO!"_

Isabella nearly screamed as her head shot up from her pillows, gripping the sheets as she stared at where Phineas once was before her. She felt her body tremble as the sweat dripped, her heart clenching like a vice. Her body was too stiff to really move beyond where she sat at first like her brain had only the power to wake her up and not complete the functions of the rest of her body. She couldn't even speak beyond the words she uttered before.

It took her a good solid ten minutes for her to remember what was going on as she ripped herself out of the comforter's grasp, grunting out a "let me go!", and growling a "it's up to you to save-", before her eyes met with her hands, both darkened by the unlit shadows of the room. It all donned on her at once that she was in her room, having woken up from another nightmare.

…how did that one end again?

Isabella quickly stumbled over to one of her drawers and roughly opened it, the noise waking up Pinky, who slept on her bean bag on another side of her resting place. As Pinky growled, threatening to bark in the night, Isabella pulled out her old sash and a few other pieces of equipment before finding a pair of bird-watching binoculars rest peacefully under her old uniform.

She stood, almost tripping over some of her textbooks from school that she failed to pick up. By god, the room was in total chaos – cramping in all that extra studying along with helping out her other friends with projects of theirs all at once was not one of Isabella's best string of choices. Placing the binoculars on her eyes, she focused them in on the window of the Flynn-Fletcher household, where Phineas and Ferb's room was located. To her right, Ferb slept soundly, likely snoring like a hog like he always did.

And then to her right was Phineas' nose, peering up from the covers as he rested, dreaming peacefully no doubt about the adventures they were going to have over the weekend.

Isabella felt her heart rest, placing the pair of binoculars onto her chest as she sat against the windowpane. She felt Pinky jump at her legs, begging for attention. She smiled weakly as she lifted the Chihuahua up onto her lap, hugging her little friend close to her chest as she looked onto the chaos that was her bedroom floor. Eventually, her eyes planted themselves towards the clock sitting on top of her dresser. It was 4:45 am, just ticking down to another minute as she stared.

She took a brief five minutes of petting Pinky's thin fur, her thoughts on a single solution; one she was far too stubborn to let herself take, no matter how many times she suffered the same dream or a dream similar over and over again.

And yet the scene continued to run through her mind no matter how many times she tried to shovel it away. Mind you, she couldn't remember most of how they had managed to carry the Vortex Sprayer up to the water tower, nor did she remember the events leading towards her ending up there, sitting against it, her heart full of the trauma she couldn't quite connect to. But the image was still clutched to her brain regardless – seeing Phineas leap in front of her, protecting her from the Pharmazombie, only to be infected himself. Having to watch her closest friend, and the love of her life hand her he hook of the machine before telling her to go on without him as he transformed into…into…

But Phineas wouldn't have done that – he wouldn't have done that for her. He would've done that for Ferb or for Candace long before he ever did that for her. Not that Phineas didn't care for Isabella, it's just that she understood where his priorities seemed to lie in the grand scheme of things. She knew in her heart that it had to have been Phineas who managed to save the day, not her; it was the only thing that made logical sense, really. Sure, she was the one closest to the Sprayer at the time, but it could've just as easily been that she, in her Pharmazombified state, managed to follow him up there, while some others knocked Phineas off too late…though honestly, now that Isabella thought about it, the thought of Phineas being flung off the water tower just as he activated the machine was a terrifying thought to behold.

Would he have even been able to survive that outside of some kind of sheer luck? Then again, he was Phineas. Phineas was amazing like that. And honestly, it was a lot less terrifying than the alternative. The idea of Phineas being willing to give up his life for her was, in a sense, very appealing to her. But it also gave her a grave sense of fear – for what if that dream had been a fact? And what if they both found themselves in a similar situation as then?

Would he truly be willing to sacrifice himself for her if he knew how much the thought of losing him utterly destroyed her?

"One day," Isabella assured herself, her voice not as strong as it usually was, "I'll tell him about that one day…"

She then stood to her feet, Pinky still in her arms as she went over to his bed, placed him on the soft, magenta cushion, and proceeded to pull herself back into her bed, pulling the sheets over her. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

**(~)**

But neither Phineas nor Isabella had any more sleep for the rest of the night after that. They spent the night thinking too much about each other to really do much of that.

**A/N:**

**Headcanon: Phineas and Isabella dream about each other a lot; a lot of those dreams involve the fear of seeing the other die before them due to all the FUCKED UP shit they somehow deal with regularly. Like, seriously, for a laidback cartoon these kids nearly die a lot. Isabella especially, man, like holy crap.**

**Thank you for reading this one-shot, God bless you all, and have a good one!**

**Carpe Diem!**

**Galaxina-the-Seedrian**


End file.
